Page 55 of Bound By Honor
She did not linger in the hall but ascended the stairs. Angus watched her go and wondered if she went to her young son. Were he not committed to meeting with the Red Earl, he would have stayed and met the boy. Instead, he ate hurriedly so that not long after, he and his company were mounted and ready to ride.
From where he sat atop his horse, Angus gazed up at the sky. The mist was dissipating but the gathering clouds were dark, the chance of rain great. He hoped it would hold off until they reached their destination.
He turned his horse to go and, suddenly, Lady Áine was there, looking up at him, an earnest expression on her face. “I wish you Godspeed, Lord Angus.”
“Thank you, my lady.” Captured by the mystery within her dark eyes, he had a vision of her wishing him Godspeed from the shore at Dunaverty. If God granted the desire of his heart, it would be so. Reluctant to go, yet knowing he must, he smiled at her before urging his horse forward.
He and his companions descended the path to where his captains stood waiting. Their words in response to his inquiry assured him they had food enough for the morning meal.
“The lady of the castle will send you more but you will need to hunt and fish to feed all the men. It will give them something to do besides wrestling and swordplay. If you can, help to fill the castle’s larders. I go to speak with the Red Earl at Dunluce. Expect me to return on the morrow with news. Should he send us to Tirconnell or Connaught, we will take the ships.”
Given the options, he expected the earl would need him and his men where he could bring his ships. To march an army south a far distance in what would surely be a damp Irish summer would not be his preference.
Angus set a fast pace as he took the path along the cliff that followed the coast west. His brother and cousin rode alongside him with his guard following. On his right, a hundred feet below, the gray sea was calm. On his left, as far he could see lay green fields, some ripe for the scythe. June was the time when hay was harvested. He thought of the farmers, knowing they always suffered in times of war. He hoped the battles to come would not make their lives more difficult.
Dunluce Castle, north coast of Ulster
THE APPROACH TO Dunluce from the tops of the hills gave Angus a view of the castle and surrounding area he had not had years before when he and his father had climbed the headland from the rocky shore. Now, open pasture stretched before him, providing fodder for a herd of grazing black cattle.
With Dunluce’s stone walls in sight, Angus rode hard for the outer bailey perched high on the sea cliff. After identifying himself, his companions and his guard to the guard at the gate, they were admitted to the wide field of grass crowded with hundreds of warriors and knights sparring with each other. “Why are so many men still here?” he asked from atop his horse.
“The earl and his family are in residence, my lord,” said the guard. “When he leaves, these men will go with him.”
Angus was glad to know Earl Richard was still at Dunluce, but he would have thought the earl’s family would be safely ensconced behind the thick stone walls of Carrickfergus Castle on the east coast. Mayhap they had been caught unaware when the fighting began in the south.
“Is Sir Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, still here?”
“He is, my lord. You will find him in the great hall with the Earl of Ulster’s advisors.”
They rode to the far end of the bailey and dismounted, handing the horses’ reins to the waiting grooms. Angus asked his guard to occupy themselves while he, Duncan and John continued on to the castle.
A narrow bridge led across a deep gulf to the rock on which the castle stood a hundred feet above the pounding surf. The slate-colored sea surrounding the promontory opened before them. Above, the sky was an expanse of gray and the air redolent of rain.
Inside, the castle was as he remembered it with carpets of red and blue and tapestries hanging on the walls. A new mural in bright colors of red, yellow, blue and green featuring elegantly attired men and women standing around fruit trees was in the process of being added to a white-plastered wall.
The great hall bustled with servants and men, their voices echoing off the stone walls. One of the earl’s wolfhounds came up to Angus with a sniff and a tail wag.
A long wooden table, set in front of the fireplace, dominated the room. Men in jewel-colored tunics sat and a few stood around it deep in discussion. Before them was a map or diagram that had drawn their attention.
Angus stepped forward and Richard de Burgh rose from his chair. “Angus, Lord of Kintyre, you are a welcome sight! Have you come with your army of Islesmen?”
Angus strode to meet him, recognizing as he did that his friend, Robert Bruce, was one of the men at the table. “Indeed, Earl Richard. I come to Dunluce with my cousin, my brother and my galloglass guard. But to your inquiry, five hundred Islesmen are at Dunseverick awaiting my orders.”
“Excellent! We were just discussing how we might disperse our forces to deal with my rebellious vassal, fitz Thomas, and his treacherous allies. They would have Connaught and all of Ireland for themselves if they could. Our plan is to have fitz Thomas contained in the south and his allies defeated in the north.”
Briefly, Angus introduced his brother and Duncan then described his ships and the number of men, galloglass and archers he had brought to Ulster.
“Wonderful,” said the earl. “Now, meet the others.”
Angus’ friend, Rob, known to these men as Sir Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, rose from his seat and held out his hand. “It is good to see you, my friend. At the moment, we argue about what chess pieces go where on the landscape of Ireland. But tonight, I claim a game of chess with the Lord of Kintyre.”
“You shall have it,” said Angus, shaking his hand.
The others who had come at Earl Richard’s call included both Norman and Irish lords, all apparently willing enemies of John fitz Thomas.
Earl Richard addressed the men at the table. “Meet Angus Og Macdonald, Lord of Kintyre, brother to Alexander, Lord of the Isles. Lord Angus has with him his younger brother, John, and his cousin, Duncan MacAlasdair. Besides these, he has brought us five hundred Islesmen, many galloglass among them.”
Smiles and murmurs of approval accompanied this announcement.
